My husband, Robert, and I have been successfully navigating his end-stage liver disease for more than a decade, but his condition is now complicated by pancreatic cancer and a few other conditions that even further complicate his health—diabetes, an aneurysm on his spleen, coronary artery disease, and low platelets. Between October 2025 and March 2026, he was hospitalized eight times, and I honestly did not think that he would make it to our wedding anniversary on May 1. But he's had a very good few past few weeks in hospice, graduating from needing to be wheeled about to walking on his own, so I am VERY optimistic that he will be well enough to hit one of our bucket-list wishes: taking a hot-air balloon ride together.

I found a place near us in Florida that has a great reputation for safety and has offered hundreds of mobility-challenged people to ascend into the blue, but it's not cheap: $880 for a private ascent. So, I am reaching out to my community to raise the money.

Robert has spent a life a service to others, beginning with his career as a Southern Baptist minister and Wiccan high priest, then seven years in the U.S. Army as a chemical NCO, followed by being a police officer in Stockton, California, and finally pursuing a career in social work. Plus 35 years as a PADI SCUBA instructor.

We are well aware of the challenges will be facing and want to celebrate the life we have left while we can. Please help us do so!

(GoFundMe keeps asking us to use AI to "enhance" our story, and I just want to say that we want to remain human. Again, as long as we can! As such, this story is ours, warts and all.)